Luanda — Angolan President, João Lourenço, on Thursday reiterated the government's commitment to administrative decentralization, with the aim of minimizing regional asymmetries.
Speaking at the opening of the VIII edition of the Forum of Municipalities and Cities of Angola (FMCA), the president said the decentralization process and transfer of powers to the municipalities is fundamental.
The Head of the Executive Power underlined that the process is one of the essential assumptions for the financial decentralization of municipalities.
"The time has come for administrative and financial decentralization", João Lourenço said, adding that more work needs to be done for the acquisition of revenues at the level of the country's municipalities.
According to the Angolan statesman, the municipalities must work more on obtaining revenues to enable them not to depend exclusively on resources from the General State Budget (OGE).
Continued implementation of PIIM and Kwenda
During the meeting, attended by municipal administrators and provincial governors, President Lourenço assured the continuation of the Integrated Plan for Intervention in the Municipalities (PIIM) and of the Kwenda programme.
PIIM aims at materializing actions of Public Investments (PIP), Development Support Expenditures (DAD) and Basic Activities (Act), with priority to social actions.
Kwenda aims to create supportive policies for the poorest families and those in vulnerable situations.
The programme is valued at 420 US millions dollars, financed with 320 million US dollars from the World Bank, and the remaining 100 million Us dollars from the National Treasury.
Political-Administrative Division
In his speech, the Angolan President spoke about the proposal of the new Politico-Administrative Division of the country, submitted by the Executive to the Parliament, aiming at bringing government closer to the citizens.
The proposal, according to the Head of State, takes into account the extension of the territory, which requires more provinces and municipalities.
João Lourenço underlined the need for municipal administrations to improve services, as it is up to the government to find solutions to respond to the population's concerns.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The president considered it of paramount importance the conclusion of the work to improve the salary of the professionals placed in most distant municipalities in relation to the cities.
About the increase of the domestic production, the President highlighted the bet on Planagrão, a project of the executive that aims to double the production of grains and foresees the implementation of a set of measures focused on food sovereignty.
As part of this strategy, President Lourenço said the municipal administrations and the provincial governments should be the main stimulators of private investment, adding that these investments should be mainly related to the production of grain and farming.
The President hinted for the "Best Municipality and City of the Country Award" to be institutionalized.
The VIII Edition of the FMCA, which ends Thursday, analyzes the degree of evolution of social impact projects underway in each of the country's localities.
At the meeting, municipal administrators and provincial governors share the progress of ongoing projects in the municipalities.
Among the projects, the Integrated Intervention Plan for Municipalities (PIIM), the Program for the Strengthening of Social Protection "Kwenda", and the Programme for the Support to the Promotion of Employability (PAPE).
The Forum of Municipalities and Cities of Angola is a space for direct interaction between the Chief Executive and municipal administrators.
